WEEK 12 LANSING (WEEK 83 OF MISSION)

hey everybody! It’s transfer week!  Which means me, a van, and 11 other missionaries driving around the state of Michigan for 13 hours tomorrow!  Should be good! (When Bro. Hoover visited us he said that Parker drives approximately 1400 miles delivering the missionaries to their new areas!)

Not a ton of time to talk tonight, but some quick updates! Richard Li (the investigators, not the awesome recent convert) and zilu are doing well.  We have been meeting regularly and they are progressing toward baptism. 

School starts again tomorrow, which is very exciting!  That means we will be able to talk to people again! at least... we will next week haha cuz we will be busy this week. But things are good! richard li (Recent Convert) is doing incredible.  He has so many good questions and is taking tons of institute classes.  He is the greatest. 

I am so thankful for the Plan of Salvation and the proper perspective it provides. Things that mean the world to other people are very important to us, but we can view them in their proper light thanks to the restored truths in the Plan of Salvation. School work is important, but it is the means to an end.  We don’t have to work a job to have a purpose in our lives. Instead, we work because we want to, because we can learn and grow and provide for our families. We don't have hobbies because we need a distraction from the mess we call mortality; we don't have hobbies because we need a way to escape our conscience prodding us about why we exist; instead, we embrace hobbies because we truly enjoy those activities.  In their proper perspective, hobbies and pleasure cease becoming the purpose of life (we work and save money so we can have time and money for our hobbies and to do things that make us happy), and become something we don’t do to fill a void, but to enliven our earthly experience.  Isn't it incredible to know why we exist?  To have the answers to what Hugh Nibley called the, "terrible questions?" Why do I exist? What happens when I die? What things will bring me peace?  You see, the Gospel is much less God's arbitrary rulebook than it is the advice of a super-intelligent Being who loves us. God tells us the natural consequences of sin. That is what a commandment is. Why would we then not follow the commandments? 

As you study the Gospel, think deeply. There is so much more than meets the eye. Seek the Spirit and a testimony of this work. If it is true, then we truly are here to become more like our Father and I can think of no better reason to live.  If it is not, then I can still think of no better way to live. But the best part about the Plan of Salvation is that it is true, and that you can know for yourself if it is, if you will but seek that knowledge. 

Elder Green